Tony Hawk Was Living In His Car When He Was Offered $300k For THPS, Former Activision CEO Claims

Former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said that Activision offered world-famous skateboarder Tony Hawk $300k to lend his name and likeness to the first Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game--an offer that came at a low point for him financially.

In an interview with the Grit podcast, Kotick claimed that Hawk was living in his car at the time, going through his second divorce. Kotick said that Hawk was desperate for money, so they signed him up with an additional 1.5% royalty rate that they renegotiated further as time went on.

"We made Pro Skater, did well, but Pro Skater 2, that was an awesome game. And that was the explosion of the business in some ways," Kotick explained.

In 2019, Hawk said that Activision offered him a $500k buyout for any future royalties, but he turned that down. Hawk's decision paid off, as he revealed that he received four million in royalty checks after Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 was released.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was released in 1999 for the original PlayStation. It was then later remade for modern platforms in 2020 as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2. The last mainline entry in the series was 2015's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5, marking the end of Hawk's contract with Activision.

While remakes of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and 4 are reportedly not in the works, Hawk confirmed that the series will continue on.